Civic Center Moves offers free outdoor workouts in downtown Denver

Amy Besoushko, left, takes a picture of Emily vonSwearingen as she zips by on a Segway April 12 at Civic Center Park. (Seth McConnell, YourHub)

One might not consider Civic Center park when looking for places to exercise this summer, but the Civic Center Conservancy is attempting to change that.

The conservancy — a nonprofit that looks to revitalize and enhance Civic Center park — is starting the Civic Center Moves program, which provides free exercise classes four days per week at the park. The program kicks off April 21 and is slated to run through mid-October.

The class times vary depending on the day, and four different organizations will be volunteering to run the free classes.

A man walks down the sidewalk at Civic Center Park, where the Civic Center Conservancy is about to start a fitness program in the park called Civic Center Moves. It is the latest attempt by the conservancy to activate the park and bring more positive activities. (Seth McConnell, YourHub)

"We're always seeking to activate Civic Center park," said Civic Center Conservancy executive director Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. "Given its proximity to residents and businesses, it should be an amenity that is part of people's health regimen."

This is the first year of what Eichenbaum Lent called a pilot program, but Civic Center Moves really began last year when Denver Parks and Recreation started workout classes in the park two days per week.

Those classes were intended mostly for people working in the Wellington E. Webb Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave., but Denver Parks and Recreation spokesman Jeff Green said they had some people from the surrounding buildings also attend.

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Denver Parks and Recreation will be hosting two classes on Tuesday afternoons — a yoga class from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and a boot camp from 12:15 to 1 p.m.

Since the Civic Center Conservancy is trying to activate the park and the groups running the classes are volunteering their time, Green said the conservancy is not being charged for their permit for the park. He added that the program fits in with the vision of the park, as both Denver Parks and Rec and the Civic Center Conservancy seek to change the image of a hangout for drug dealers.

"The theory behind anything in Civic Center park the last couple of years is to activate it, get more use and draw more legitimate use to it in comparison to the reputation it's garnered as a hangout for nefarious characters," Green said.

Pearl Street Fitness will be running a class from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays for a "full-body workout." Co-owner Laura St. John said the class will be run by her husband, Scott, and they were grateful to be considered for the program.

"For us as a growing business, we thought it was an awesome opportunity to expose ourselves to new people," she said.

The other groups hosting workout sessions include Im'Unique, which is holding a yoga flow class from 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays, and November Project Denver, which has a fitness tribe class from 6:15 to 7 a.m. Wednesdays.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.